I sighed heavily. I’d promised Brock I’d tell him when Jack got here.
‘He’s here,’I sent to my alpha, hoping he was too busy with Nathan’s memorial to meet Jack and we could just run along to this gym without the awkward—
‘I see him.’
Fuck.
I burst from the house like my ass was on fire, hoping to intercept Jack before Brock did. But I was too late. Jack had just exited his car and Brock was already walking toward him. Both of their nostrils were flaring.
“Jack! Kenzie!” I tried to pull their attention toward me, but no luck. Brock was a foot away from my ex, and the two wolves were locked in a fucking dominance battle, staring each other down with fierce eyes.
“Jack, this is Brock, my … boyfriend,” I said, figuring that was safest as I moved closer to the pair. Even though we hadn’t talked about a label for whatever was between us, Brock might kill me if I called him a friend in front of another male wolf.
“And her alpha,” Brock added, trying to drill a hole in Jack’s head with his gaze.
Jack raised an eyebrow.
“Andthe father of her unborn child.” Now Brock was just being a dick.
Jack broke his stare to meet my gaze with a shocked open mouth.
‘He’s scrawnier than I thought he’d be,’Brock said through our pack bond, sounding far too pleased with himself.
Jack was anything but scrawny, but I wasn’t going to argue.
‘Be nice, dammit. I have to work with him all week,’I said.
“Pregnant?” Jack asked. “You never wanted kids.”
I winced.
Thanks for that, jackass.
“What?” Brock reeled to look in my direction.
Motherfuckers. There should be a rule against your exes ever meeting.
“Yeah, well … I’ve changed. A lot.” I placed a hand on Brock’s shoulder, hoping I was strong enough to pull him back if he lunged for Jack. My ex was a hotheaded bigmouth who’d been in more pack trouble than anyone else I’d ever met. Riddled with tattoos and a fan of breaking the rules, Jack was your ultimate bad boy.
Jack seared Brock with one more look. “Kiss your alpha goodbye. We have a case to work.”
The low growl in Brock’s throat made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end.
“You willnotdisrespect me on my land.” Brock’s voice was barely human.
Kenzie came up behind Jack and thwopped him in the back of the head—hard. “Dammit, Jack, stop starting shit and get in the house!” This forced Jack to break eye contact as his head jerked toward the ground, a move which might have saved his life.
If looks could kill, Kenzie would be dead. Jack gave her the nastiest look I’d ever seen, all tight lips and glowing orange eyes, before stalking off past Brock and me toward the house.
“Sorry, darlin’,” Kenzie told Brock. “He doesn’t have many brain cells left.” Then Kenzie followed Jack into my gran’s house and left us alone.
Brock was breathing through his nose, deeply, as small patches of fur rippled up and down his arms.
I offered Brock a wince and a weak smile. “He’s a total douchebag, sorry.”
Finally, Brock met my eyes. “If he ever disrespects you like that again, I’ll kill him and hide the body so that no one will ever find it.”
My eyes widened. “Jack’s harmless. I promise.”
